One of South Africa's most celebrated writers has issued a damning attack on the South African political order for failing the country's citizens.

Breyten Breytenbach, the poet, writer and anti-apartheid activist, has written a scathing article titled Mandela's Smile: notes on South Africa's failed revolution, in the latest edition of the US magazine, Harpers.

Breytenbach now divides his time between New York, where he teaches creative writing at New York University, and the Goree Institute in Senegal.

A reviewer of the article said that Breytenbach cites "the relentless, mindless violence, nepotism and corruption that prevail here as sources both of South Africa's shame and of Breytenbach's incendiary call to quit the country".

In a subsequent radio interview, Breytenbach charged: "Critical institutions have practically imploded under our national health system, to some extent our educational system, certainly our security system. It is claimed that even under apartheid more houses were built for the poor than has been built by the new government."

He said that could be explained, in part at least, because of the "very difficult national conditions" in which the ANC took power.

"But a lot of it must be brought to the door of responsibility of those in power within the ANC. There's been a very rapid promotion and enrichment, quite obscenely so, of a small number of senior cadres."

He said the transition to democracy could be rightly described as a "boardroom revolution", to the exclusion of the poor.

"It's a very intelligent and I suppose natural way for the very rich international enterprises in South Africa to obtain credibility by co-opting black faces or brown faces or Indian faces and paying them extraordinary amounts of money to do so," he told Democracy Now.

Breytenbach was appalled by South Africa's crime rate.

"The situation is that we have an average of 55 murders a day.

"We probably have something like 150 women being raped. We have, in vast parts of the country in urban areas, what are in effect being considered as war zones. With organised hijacking, with police repression."

The Harper's article is accessible to subscribers only, but news reports on the internet quote Breytenbach suggesting: "If a young South African were to ask me whether he or she should stay or leave, my bitter advice would be to go. For the foreseeable future now, if you want to live your life to the full, and with some satisfaction and usefulness, and you can stand the loss - then go!"

Breytenbach was born in Bonnievale, about 180km outside of Cape Town, and his work includes the book, The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist, in which he describes aspects of his imprisonment by the apartheid state.

This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Argus on December 17, 2008

Sign up: People were given T-shirts and bags with Cope’s logo during the party’s launch at Vista University in Bloemfontein. Picture: Simphiwe Nkwali

Sentiment had swung in favour of sacking Mbeki — and his supporters could read the wind

Cope leaders initially wanted to fight Zuma’s allies inside ANC.

Leadership not on Cope’s agenda

Cope wins name battle

The biggest challenge to the new leaders of the ANC was born moments after their greatest victory.

As the winners danced through Turfloop University outside Polokwane, celebrating the election of Jacob Zuma as ANC president on December 18, supporters of ousted ANC leader Thabo Mbeki met on a field, looking for the leadership that would carry them forward.

Mluleki George, who had headed the re-elect Mbeki campaign, was sent to consult the leaders. “The battle continues comrades,” he reported back to the crowd gathered in the dark.

That was the genesis of the Congress of the People, which proved this week that the ANC will have a fight on its hands when the next election date is announced.

Though the seed had been planted, it was Mbeki’s forced resignation as president of the country 10 months later that germinated the dormant idea.

Stunned by the news that Zuma’s leadership had humiliated Mbeki by making him leave with barely six months of his 10 years still to serve, Mbeki loyalist Smuts Ngonyama attended a meeting in East London. There, ANC Nokhanyile branch chairman Zolani Xhego is believed to have outlined a programme to confront the ANC in which they no longer believed.

A former ANC leader, who is now with Cope, said: “We were referred to as floor-crossers and told that we cannot be trusted.”

During the victory celebrations at Zuma’s Nkandla homestead, the new ANC secretary- general, Gwede Mantashe, faced open calls to purge the party of “Mbekism”. The disaster that the losers feared began to unfold almost immediately.

The axe fell first on Mbeki loyalists in parliament, including Trevor Manuel, who was dropped from the political committee. Then, on July 14, Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool was fired and, two weeks later, Eastern Cape premier Nosimo Balindlela was axed.

“At the beginning of the year, we were playing with the idea of forming a civil movement that would fight the new leadership inside the party, but by May we felt we could not take the insults by the ANC Youth League,” said one former ANC leader.

He said the die was cast by May as the Zuma faction gained confidence and squeezed people to support their man at all costs.

The ANC legitimised the chaotic Northern Cape conference and bolstered the dubious outcome of the Western Cape conference, which excluded two of the biggest ANC regions hostile to the Zuma faction.

Mantashe would later tell an ANC parliamentary caucus the contentious actions were needed to forestall a pro-Mbeki rebellion. The losers responded.

“ We used to meet in homes in Pretoria or Johannesburg. There were four national leaders and representatives from provinces. We assessed whether there was still room to fight from inside, but realised that we were not wanted in the party. The ANC had handed itself to the SACP,” said a Cope leader.

A series of ANC working committee and national executive committee meetings made it clear in September that sentiment had swung in favour of sacking Mbeki — and his supporters could see whch way the wind was blowing.

On September 14, they met in East London’s Blue Lagoon Hotel ahead of a national working committee meeting the following day. Eastern Cape MEC Sam Kwelita, Amathole regional secretary Siphiwo Mdila and provincial secretary Siphato Handi were present, knowing it probably was too late to rescue the president. On Friday September 19, Ngonyama, anticipating Mbeki’s ouster, held a secret meeting with some provincial leaders at East London’s Hemingways Casino & Hotel.

After an intense NEC debate, which was only ever going to go one way, Mantashe announced Mbeki’s axing on September 20.

In East London, Ngonyama raced to the city hall to break the news to members of the ANC’s Amathole region, who were holding an election training workshop. Later that day, the group, which included Ngonyama, Mlungisi Hlongwane, Lucky Thekiso from Northern Cape, former SACP Free State provincial executive member Mzwandile Nhleko and former SACP treasurer Phillip Dexter, re-convened at the Eastern Cape Development Corporation office, where the idea of a life outside the ANC was formally agreed.

ANC NEC member Makhenkesi Stofile read the mood and tried to intervene. He said: “We were advised to preach peace and unity, but we knew it was impossible.”

The dissidents knew they needed bigger names to make their plan workable.

Defence minister Mosiuoa “Terror” Lekota was not part of the initial meetings, but he had been kept informed. Now they needed him to make a decision.

According to a Cope leader, who wanted to remain anonymous, the core group visited Lekota at his Pretoria home at 2am to urge him to sign up.

“ He told us to return at 7am when we told him we had decided about the formation of a new party and we wanted leaders. He was reluctant and insisted that issues were supposed to be raised in the ANC.”

Lekota declined to join immediately, opting to take his issues to the ANC in an open letter that demanded reassurance about the party’s commitment to the constitution and rule of law.

On October 8, Lekota made clear his intention to form a new party and said the ANC leadership had failed to respond to his questions. Flanked by axed Cosatu president Willie Madisha, he called for a convention to ratify the formation of a new party. About 4000 people packed the Sandton Convention Centre to confirm that South Africa needed another party with roots in the liberation struggle and to set this Tuesday as the formal launch date.

Court battles about rights to the name Congress of the People, skirmishes over registration deadlines and a war of words that has threatened to ignite violent clashes mark the new era of South African politics.

SUNDAY TIMES

Comments by Sonny

It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but, rather, the size of the fight in

the dog!

If COPE is a dog then, let it show the ANC, just how well it can fight! Posted by Sonny Cox at 9:27 PM 0 comments Links to this post Labels: COPE victory. US Ambassador Mr James McGee slams Mugabe regime's greed .(United States provides nearly 70 percent of all food aid distributed in Zimbabwe )

US Ambassador slams Mugabe regime's greed

Sun Dec 14

(AFP) – United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee has slammed Robert Mugabe's regime for squandering the country's resources while millions are gripped in dire poverty amid a cholera outbreak.

McGee wrote in South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper that Zimbabwe's government had failed to meet its most basic obligation and care for its people while the international community propped up the nation with aid.

"What is the Mugabe regime doing? It is buying hundreds of cars so that every minister and governor can have multiple vehicles. It is buying plasma televisions for judges.

"Instead of spending scarce resources on water purification chemicals that might stop the cholera epidemic, they are manipulating currency to make a personal profit," he wrote.

Almost 750 people have died from a cholera epidemic which is the latest crisis to befall the southern African nation, with galloping inflation last estimated at 231 million percent in July.

It is expected some five million will need food aid in the coming months.

International calls have grown for Mugabe to leave power after a months-long political stalemate following March elections, and the failure of rival political parties to reach consensus on a unity government.

According to McGee, the United States provides nearly 70 percent of all food aid distributed in Zimbabwe , and donated more than 218-million dollars of humanitarian aid in the past year.

The international community was being forced to lead through Mugabe's "criminal negligence", he said.

"The Mugabe regime should open its books and tell the world how much it is spending on the people of Zimbabwe and how much is being spent on luxury vehicles," he added. Posted by Tango at 8:56 PM 0 comments Links to this post Labels: Mugabe Zimbabwe 5 million will need food aid Zim vergaan voor die wêreld se oë

President Kgalema Motlanthe stands accused of abandoning a plush Johannesburg home under cover of darkness and leaving behind damages estimated at R500,000.

The sale agreement in May 2008

Addendum to offer to purchase

Letter from Wendy Meckanik to President Motlanthe

Letter from Siyabonga Mahlangu to transfer attorneys

Letter from Siyabonga Mahlangu to Wilhelm Steynberg

Central to the scandal, which has left the owners of the R6-million Saxonwold house stunned and broke, is controversial ANC benefactor Sandi Majali, who has been linked to a string of scandals involving top politicians.

The businessman was implicated in the Oilgate saga when his company used R11-million of taxpayers’ money from state oil company PetroSA to fund the ANC’s election campaign.

The Sunday Times has established that:

Majali found the house for Motlanthe in May this year, when the president was still the ANC’s deputy president;

The person who signed the sale agreement is a consultant to Majali’s companies;

The agreement was signed on May 20 2008, the same day Motlanthe was appointed to the cabinet as an ordinary minister; and

Occupational rent was paid with cheques from Majali’s companies.

Motlanthe moved into the four- bedroom house on July 1, two months after he first viewed the property with agent Bev Malan from Wendy Machanik Properties. Two weeks ago, just hours after irate homeowner Mark Burnett demanded to know why he had received no money from the sale of his house, Motlanthe, his belongings and furniture were removed from the property.

A shocked Burnett said he returned to his abandoned home to discover damage he estimated at R500000. The property’s koi pond, filter system, electric fencing, main gate and surveillance camera system had been damaged and several built-in cupboards, cherry-wood wall units and fitted carpets had been removed.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “If you can’t have faith in the president of the country, who can you have faith in?”

The saga has plunged Burnett and his wife, Joy, into a financial crisis. The sale of the house was supposed to pay for their new home in Southbroom on the KwaZulu- Natal South Coast.

“My reputation is in tatters. I risk judgments against me because I’m struggling to pay my bills. I now have two houses to pay for and my wife and I have six children between us,” said the 47-year-old who left Johannesburg after two heart attacks in two years.

The purchase agreement, signed by Molotsi Sifora of ML Sifora Consultancy, gave him until October 20 to provide guarantees of a loan for the outstanding R5.5-million. A R500000 deposit was lodged with Wendy Machanik Properties.

Occupational rent of R30000 a month was set, with the condition that no alterations be made to the property before its transfer without Burnett’s prior written consent.

Burnett said he was told by the estate agent that the occupational rent cheques were collected at Majali’s offices every month. Deposit slips in the possession of the Sunday Times reflect that these cheques belonged to companies owned by Majali.

On October 30, after Sifora experienced difficulty in securing a bond, Burnett agreed to a request for an extension.

In an urgent letter addressed to Motlanthe on November 19, Wendy Machanik offered to help him get a bond in 10 days to ensure the sale was not jeopardised.

But five days later, Sifora’s attorney, Siyabonga Mahlangu, sent a letter to transfer attorneys Porter & Seaber, saying: “Our client has been informed that the bank is not in a position to grant it the loan required on the basis of the strength of our client’s financials.”

It said a third party had been approached to provide surety and requested a further six weeks to finalise the loan.

“I refused,” said Burnett. “I was desperate and risked losing my Southbroom home. I phoned Sifora and told him I wanted the president out of my home. I also threatened to go to the press.”

At a meeting on November 27, attended by Mahlangu, Burnett, his brother and a family accountant, Burnett agreed to a verbal settlement offer from Mahlangu, which included confidentiality. “We shook on the agreement. I was ecstatic. The payment would have got me out of the financial mess they’d put me in,” said Burnett.

He added that Mahlangu told him the president had been moved out of the house at 2am that morning.

On December 3, Mahlangu sent a letter to Machanik, pulling out of the deal and offering to pay Burnett the R500000 deposit plus interest, a further R500000 in five equal instalments, and “co-operation in the quantification and restoration of any physical damage to the property”.

Burnett’s lawyer, Wilhelm Steynberg, responded the next day, accepting the offer on condition that no deductions were made from the deposit, and his client was satisfied with the credentials of the company underwriting the instalments.

But Mahlangu replied the same day, accusing Burnett of harassing him and “occupants” at the house, and said Steynberg’s conditions were seen as a “counterproposal”.

Sifora denied on Friday that he had bought the house for the president and said Motlanthe was “renting”. “I was the person paying occupational rent. The president was paying me rent.” He declined to comment on Majali and referred all queries to Mahlangu.

Mahlangu claimed yesterday that Burnett had threatened his client with “immense embarrassment in exchange for an immediate payment of R1-million”.

“We must state categorically that the current transaction is between ML Sifora Consulting and Mr Burnett. Any statement to the contrary can only bear collateral motives.

“If Mr Burnett has suffered any loss which he attributes to our client, he has remedies available to him in law.”

Presidential spokesman Thabo Masebe said the president had never asked anybody to buy him a house and was not involved with the purchase. He declined to discuss Majali’s involvement, saying it was “irrelevant”.

Despite numerous attempts, Majali could not be reached for comment. — powerm@sundaytimes.co.za

Johannesburg - An alleged robber got more than he bargained for when he was electrocuted at a train station moments after stealing R30 000 from a hair salon in Cape Town, police said on Sunday.

Posing as a police officer, the 30-year-old man allegedly went into the African Hair salon on Strand street on Saturday afternoon, pretending to be searching for drugs.

"Together with another unknown man, they then produced appointment certificates similar to those of police officers. One of them then threatened the complainant and took R30 000 that was in a plastic bag at gunpoint," said Captain Randall Stoffels.

The two men then allegedly fled on foot towards a railway station.

It was there that police on patrol found one of them lying on the train tracks with burn wounds shortly afterwards.

"Police officers found a large amount of cash on the injured suspect and he is currently under police guard at a nearby hospital," Stoffels said.

The man's alleged accomplice is still being sought by police.

Stoffels urged members of the public to contact Detective Sergeant Leonard Woolstencroft on 021-467-6392 should they have information regarding the whereabouts of the other man.

- SAPA

Comments by Sonny

Too many criminal are running around with 'fake SAPS appointment certificates.'

Who is supplying them and at what cost?

How can we identify a 'genuine' policemen if one should approach us!

Someone should write a book on "Identify a cop for idiots!" Posted by Sonny Cox at 9:32 AM 0 comments Links to this post Labels: Crime pays in SA. Crime out of control. ANC above the law. South African leaders are still undermining the fight against crime-The Scorpions are the victims of their own Success- Criminal justice leaderless!

How SA's leaders undermine the crime fight

December 13 2008 at 10:52AM

Related Articles Power beckons for movers and shakersIs it a cover up?Will fear rule new police unit?

By Deon de Lange

Most people would agree that, along with jobs and education, crime continues to present South Africa with its toughest challenge.

Why then have successive presidents, ministers, party bosses and senior civil servants allowed their oversized egos to bedevil the fight against crime in this country?

Former president Thabo Mbeki, President Kgalema Motlanthe, ANC leader Jacob Zuma, suspended National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, Justice Director-General Menzi Simelane, deposed minister of safety and security Charles Nqakula, bumbling Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour and former justice minister Brigitte Mabandla - to name a few - have each played a role in this farce.

One by one, these people have undermined the fight against crime by allowing their petty squabbles, turf wars, personality clashes and political manoeuvring to overshadow what should have been an all-out drive to push back the rising tide of scum terrorising citizens.

For years we have listened to politicians talking about the need for a concerted and collective effort to sweep the criminals from our streets. What are you doing about crime, they ask.

Complain? How dare you? Shut up and leave the country, Nqakula told parliament not too long ago.

Then he played the race card. Only whites complain about crime, now that they feel the flames lapping at their backsides after decades of disproportionate police protection, he suggested. This may be so, but tell that to the residents of Nyanga, SA's murder capital for three years running.

While Nqakula was restructuring the police for the fourth time in a decade, effectively closing down specialist units like the anti-hijacking and vehicle theft units, the Child Protection Unit and the drug squads, his political masters in the ANC were plotting the downfall of the Scorpions.

If ever there was an example of egos and factional interests trumping the fight against crime, then the drive to kill off the Scorpions must be it. Quite simply, the Scorpions are the victims of their own success. The list of senior politicians and civil servants who, at one time or another, have been investigated by this unit is very, very long - and includes the man most likely to be our next head of state.

Initially, ANC leaders didn't even bother to hide the fact that this had nothing to do with strengthening the fight against crime - that little fib came much later.

ANC national executive committee member Nathi Mthethwa, who has since been rewarded for leading the charge against the Scorpions by being appointed minister of safety and security, slammed members of the elite unit as "adversaries of the democratic order".

It is also a shocking indictment of our political leaders that, over the past decade, three major inquiries and commissions have been established, not to investigate crime itself, but to probe ego clashes and factional quarrelling between various law enforcement agencies and officials.

The Hefer Commission came about after two senior politicians - both of whom had reason to fear the National Prosecuting Authority - accused former prosecutions boss Bulelani Ngcuka of being an apartheid-era spy. After much public fuss - and expense - they retracted the claim.

The Khampepe Commission was established when turf wars and personality clashes between senior law enforcement officials threatened to dump the entire criminal justice system into chaos. This secret and dirty war among politicians and their civil service acolytes, essentially over who should run the Scorpions, highlighted to a shocking extent the degree to which the fight against crime had been subordinated to the power games of the governing elite.

In the end - and again at great cost - the commission basically told the politicians and government officials they should learn to play nicely. Set up a ministerial co-ordinating committee and sort out your own problems, they were told. But the bickering continued and the criminals cheered.

Most recently, the Ginwala Inquiry has provided another glimpse into the vindictive cesspit that is the South African political and administrative landscape. Again, this inquiry was not set up to deal with the pressing issue of crime, but to determine Vusi Pikoli's fitness to hold office. Incidentally, the inquiry found him to be a person of "unimpeachable integrity". Nonsense. Off with his head, says the president.

The inquiry revealed that Simelane spent much of his tax-funded time running a vendetta against Pikoli.

With Simelane gleefully steering the government's ill-advised juggernaut against Pikoli, the inquiry delved into a litany of acrimonious letters and e-mails between ministers and officials and bitter standoffs over search warrants and politically "insensitive" prosecuting procedures.

Commenting on the government's case, Ginwala said the following: "Some of the matters are... so remote that the inference is that the DG [Simelane] must have intended to throw a wide net to try to make something stick on Pikoli". She also noted that some of the complaints against Pikoli were spurious and "may have been motivated by personal issues". The more things change...

But while the egos clashed, much of the criminal justice system has been left leaderless - on autopilot. Over the past 24 months, at least five security structures - the SAPS, the NPA, the Independent Complaints Directorate, Correctional Services and the Scorpions - have at some point had to cope without a permanently appointed boss.

Zuma has, meanwhile, begun talking tough about crime as he tap-dances his way to an election - and a possible "political solution" to his own legal morass.

Pre-election promises about laws that bite and about getting tough on criminals are as old, stale and useless as the rust buckets our under-resourced police men and women use to patrol our neighbourhoods.

We already have laws that bite. They should simply be enforced. Crimes should be properly investigated and mercilessly prosecuted. Our cops are tough on criminals - almost 800 people died last year as a result of police action or in police custody. Then again, more than 1 400 escaped from police custody. Go figure.

And when a recent drunk-driving case against ANC stalwart and (presumably) reformed fraudster Tony Yengeni was deliberately bungled by the police, not a word of condemnation was heard from our political rulers.

So, as we head into the festive season - a time when criminals rape, pillage and plunder with abandon - it is perhaps pertinent to remind our political leaders that there is an election around the corner.

They should not be too surprised if citizens respond to their pompous posturing and bloated egos in the way they use their pencils in the voting booth.

This article was originally published on page 15 of The Star on December 13, 2008

Related article-(Nyanga, SA's murder capital for three years running.)

By Asa Sokopo

Western Cape police have defended Nyanga police station after crime statistics released this week confirmed the precinct as South Africa's "murder capital" for the third consecutive year.

Nyanga also featured prominently in the category of police stations with the most reported rapes, 7th highest in the country, attempted murder (3rd highest), and assault (14th).

But police said that there had been a marked decrease in the number of murders reported at the station over the past five years.

Police tip-offs had resulted in an increased number of confiscations of illegal firearms and drugs Crime statistics released by Safety and Security minister Charles Nqukula on Monday did not give breakdowns of the number of individual crimes but only ranked police stations in terms of overall crimes reported in various categories.

On Tuesday, police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Neville Malila said there had been an overall decrease in contact crimes in Nyanga over the past year, with the number of murders reported at the police station decreasing by 12,2 percent and the number of rapes down by 20,5 percent.

In the past five years, murders in Nyanga had dropped from 458 to 266, while attempted murders were down from 442 to 152, he said.

"These decreases can be attributed to better policing and better co-operation between police and various community organisations."

Malila also said the drop in the number of contact crimes was a direct result of police interactions with community members who had volunteered information to police.

According to Malila, police tip-offs had resulted in an increased number of confiscations of illegal firearms and drugs.

Police had seized 141 illegal firearms, an increase of 21,6 percent, while police intervention in drug-related incidents had climbed from 388 to 410, an increase of 5,7 percent during the past year.

Meanwhile, the Cape Town Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed concern at the province's crime statistics.

Chamber president Dr Gerald Wolman said the statistics revealed a worsening situation as far as business was concerned, resulting in a lack of personal security, motivation and performance which in turn prompted qualified professionals to leave the country in their droves.

"What concerns us most of all is that more crime is coming into the workplace and the homes of the people we employ."

According to Wolman, the increased cost to businesses of investing in security services and insurance was reflected in increased prices, in turn making local products less competitive in the global economy.

South Africa can "kiss the 2010 Fifa World Cup goodbye" if it does not deal decisively with the minibus taxi industry.

This is the view of an expert in the taxi conflict, who asked not to be named because of death threats in the past. He questioned why the government was allowing the industry to hold the entire country to ransom.

"It's time to take the taxi industry and turn it on its head and it's got to be done forcefully."

He described the industry as being run by thugs. "They might be thugs in suits but are thugs nonetheless."

'They might be thugs in suits but are thugs nonetheless' Leaders who refused to abide by the law needed to be jailed - "meeting and placating" them would not help.

Taxi drivers went on the rampage in Cape Town on Tuesday, stoning buses and private vehicles in protest against the planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, which is being rolled out in seven metropoles across the country.

The attacks left one man dead and a number injured, while thousands of commuters were stranded.

Taxi operators fear the BRT system will take passengers from them, even though Transport Minister Jeff Radebe has repeatedly assured them this won't be the case.

A memorandum from the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association, the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations and the National Taxi Alliance addressed to Cape Town mayor Helen Zille this week outlined their concerns.

They demand that all BRT projects in the city cease, citing a lack of consultation. However, attempts to consult representatives of the 150 taxi associations have been disrupted several times.

The memorandum, signed by among others, National Taxi Alliance general secretaries Alpheus Mlalazi and Mandla Mata, warned that should their demands not be met within 14 days of the protest, the industry members would not vote in next year's elections and would suspend their services during next year's Confederation Cup and the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Various taxi roleplayers have threatened to sabotage the World Cup if their demands are not met.

But Western Cape premier Lynne Brown said there was no reason for taxis to do this.

She said should they engage in the type of violent protest action they exhibited this week, they would be dealt with by the relevant security agencies.

In 2005, a commission of inquiry set up by former Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool and headed by former Truth and Reconciliation Commission chief investigator Dumisa Ntsebeza released a report painting a bleak picture of the taxi industry.

Much of what it found is still valid today.

The report noted that while the industry was "arguably the most original example one can get in South Africa of genuine black empowerment", it was also one dominated by a culture of lawlessness, entitlement, and the prevalent use of hit squads by both Cata and Codeta, as well as a failure to arrest and prosecute those who sponsored the killers.

It emerged during the inquiry there was a strong link between taxis, drugs and organised crime, and that taxi associations operated like the Mafia, with the power to extort money and murder their opponents.

It found there were cases where police had failed, or refused, to investigate serious taxi crimes.

The report recommended that an investigative team be set up involving police, revenue services, provincial authorities and the national intelligence agency, to investigate the taxi warlords who paid hit squads to murder rivals.

It also recommended that law enforcement officers from the police, provincial and city traffic and City Police set up a joint task team to deal with any road traffic violations arising from failed disputes between owners and associations.

Former Codeta leader, Michael Kupiso, who testified about taxi warlords at the inquiry in 2005, predicted that he would be murdered for testifying; a few days later he was.

This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Argus on December 13, 2008

RELATED ARTICLE below- 7 September 2005

Premier and Province to Act Firmly and Speedily on Taxi Report7 September 2005SOURCE: Premier of the Western Cape (Provincial Government of the Western Cape) "As a Provincial Government we are motivated by a vision we have for the transport and taxi industry in the Western Cape to be strengthened in its continuing role as a driver of BEE, SMME development and as probably Government's most direct intervention in the second economy. The industry can only reach its full potential if regulated within a broad system in which iKapa Elihlumayo and the Recapitalisation and Government public transport subsidy processes are key pillars."The Taxi Industry is seriously endangered by a pervasive image of violence, and lawlessness which results in it effectively not being regulated. This leads to overtrading and diminishing profits within the industry, further aggravated by the absence of an integrated public transport system and Plan.

"The Ntsebeza Committee of Enquiry Report rings definite alarm bells. The alarm bell of the existence of iimbovane [hit squads], alarm bells on allegations that warlords are in control of the industry and may be behind ordering assassinations and violence, the alarm bell of parallel enforcement by the industry itself [including imposing fines and levies and even death penalties], alerts us to the build up of a warchest [the existence of large amounts of unaccounted money within industry], an alarm bell indicating tax evasion on a massive scale. A further alarm bell is the prevalence of linkages to organised within the Coloured Taxi industry, where taxis are often a source often of money laundering, drug dealing, prostitution and are at the service of gangs and gangsterism.

"This leads us to the important confirmation of a chilling culture of impunity within the Taxi Industry. The Industry apparently conducts its own enforcement through tools from levies to assassinations; non-compliance with government laws: whether AGMs or Constitutions to not accounting or paying taxes. This impunity is underpinned by perceptions of a State lacking both the will and capacity to act firmly and that contacts in Government and law enforcement agencies will look after them, or that bribes and threats will hold sway. This culture must be turned around. Therefore in response to the Ntsebeza Report, Government will take the following short, medium and long term interventions:

The Transport Registrar is the first primary source of compliance, in terms of matters ranging from Constitutions, AGMS and membership to financial compliance and tax status. The Registrar must check the proper accounting of all moneys within the industry. In addition the Registrar's Office must develop a Standing Dispute Resolution mechanism for the industry.Provincial Operators License Board [POLB] - the POLB faces allegations that civil servants and Board members are guilty of extortion; the irregular issuing of licenses leading to over-trading, licenses for non-existent routes, double licenses for single vehicles and allegations of mismanagement if not corruption surrounding application fees. Actions include:

i) When these allegations first emerged the Premier commissioned a Forensic Audit of the POLB in conjunction with KPMG and Sizwe and these findings will inform the process ahead.

ii)A review of the issuing of license procedures according to a Public Transport Plan.

There will be a fundamental restructuring and reconstitution of the Board and operations of POLB.iv] The Minister for Transport will proclaim a further Pound facility in due course.

Management of taxi ranks - it is an immediate priority that Government regain control of all Taxi Ranks in the Province: to ensure the enforcement of all relevant laws and the removal of any parallel authorities that undermine the role and responsibilities of Government and adversely impact on the Industry and commuters. The Provincial Minister of Transport and his Local Authority counterparts must co-ordinate this within a broad Transport Plan for the Province.The immediate establishment of a Transport Multi-disciplinary Investigation Unit [TMDIU] led by SAPS and including Traffic, NIA, SARS and SIU. The TMDIU terms of reference will include:

ii) allegations of warlordism and the existence of the 'iimbovane' [hitmen],

iii) links in the industry to organised crime,

iv) allegations of corruption against State agencies and officials and

v) a thorough investigation into every person, whether SAPS, taxi owner, association leader, POLB official or other amongst the 62 persons named in the Committee's Confidential annex handed to Premier.

The TMDIU will be the precursor to integrating law enforcement agencies into a co-ordinated standing unit for taxi and transport industry until the integrity of the industry has been secured.

In line with strategies in our Growth and Development Strategy of iKapa Elihlumayo we will fast track work toward an integrated public transport system and Plan that is multi-nodal, utilises both the Recapitalisation process and Government public transport subsidies as key incentives to reach the full economic potential of the industry, in which taxis can take their full place.

"This must be the seminal moment in turning around the Western Cape Taxi Industry. In thanking the Ntsebeza Committee of Enquiry we are determined to use this Report to achieve just that. I wish to express sincere gratitude to Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza and his Committee members Bongani Kupe, Irvin Kinnes and Joseph Makhura for their commitment and contribution."

(Clayton Edmund WakefordActing Provincial Head of CommunicationsOffice of the Premier of the Western CapeEmail: cwakeford@pgwc.gov.za )